I decided to flee to another part of the guild before the dragon decided to wake up again. I searched for somewhere secluded, where no monsters seemed to prowl. Eventually, I came upon my old room. The area was relatively empty, and remained intact after our battle with Nightwing. Seemed like the perfect place to chat with the devil within me.

I tossed myself onto my old bed and stared at the ceiling, “Ok. What’s this about you helping me? How many people have I killed because of you?”

But would Supernova have been so eager to take you in if they thought you were in control? Would they have given you instruction from one of their strongest mages, essentially setting you on course to become one of their youngest Elites?

“I’m far from becoming an Elite. Just because I excelled among other apprentices means nothing. I had an amazing teacher.”

Do you really think Juxon would have gone through all of that trouble to bring Grimlock out of retirement just to train some random kid who wandered into the guild, hoping to perfect his magic? I think you already know the answer.

As much I struggled to form a rebuttal...the voice was right.

I bet you didn’t know that you’re actually inching closer and closer to that Elite nomination after your bravery during the battle against Nightwing. How else do you think you managed to phase through a barrier that only my guild members can pass through.

I remained silent, my jaw dropping to the floor underneath my bed.

Put the pieces together, my Angel. Without me, you would not even be a member of Supernova, much less the talk of the guild. You’re practically a celebrity because of me.

“And because of you, my family is dead.”

So if you could take all of this back, would you?

“Absolutely. Too many people have died for me to be proud. I don’t want to be a celebrity; I want to be…”

Dead?

“If it means that the people I care about can live, then yes.”

Hmph. You’re as headstrong as you were when I first—

“Are you going to tell me why you’re here, or what?”

Patience, my Angel. I just wanted you to understand that I am only working with your best interests in mind. Look how much I’ve done for you. If anything, you should be thanking me.

“Get on with it.”

I have your friend, or rather, her corpse. What was her name? Blue?

Hearing her name made me snap, “Don’t ever say her name!”

You have my condolences. However, we accidentally collected her along with the rest of our fallen Nightwing members. She wasn’t wearing one of your silly guild marks, so we mistook her for one of our own.

“What are you getting at!? Just say it already!”

Oh my, I’ve never seen you this angry. You must really despise me. Anyways, I just wanted to warn you that, well...I overheard some of our necromancers describing what kind of terrible things he could do with her body. I’m sure someone who harbors so much guilt wouldn’t want her corpse to be defiled by the ones who killed her.

“If you want me to go to Nightwing, I won’t. Blue is dead. Nothing will change that.”

How cold can you be? This is one of your best friends—

“Was. And it’s not being cold, it’s me looking out for the rest of my guild. You know, the ones that are alive?”

Suit yourself. The necromancers of Nightwing can be very...creative. And, before I go, I want to tell you one more thing.

“And what would that be?”

You will join Nightwing, whether you like or not. Everyone you love will die, and eventually, you will have no one left. No one...but us. Supernova will be completely eradicated soon. Spare yourself the pain.

“You underestimate us. We’ll be prepared for the day you try and ambush us again.”

We’ll see about that, my Angel.

The voice disappeared after that final comment. I breathed a sigh of relief, finally returning to the solitude I craved for after Grimlock read the list of casualties. I took a look around my room again. Everything was exactly as it was before the attack. Even my journal sat neatly on the nightstand near my bed. I nearly forgot about it after we moved to the other camp.

Out of curiosity, I decided to browse through some of the entries. Many of them described all of the training I did with Grimlock. Then again, that was all that I did for my first few months anyways.

Once I got to the last written page, however, my jaw dropped.

On the page was a map, drawn in some magical ink. A purple aura resonated off of the page, and several dots were scattered everywhere.

Only you can see this, my Angel. Whenever you’re ready, follow this map.

“No. This can’t be—”

It is. Exactly how to get to Nightwing. The ink only allows Nightwing members to see it. Oh, and if you try to reveal this map to anyone, or if we suspect you’re being followed, it will erase itself. I await you at Nightwing, my Angel.

Story summary

This world, Ether, is a place filled with magic and wonders. With this magic come good and evil, both sides have created Guilds to strengthen their abilities and achieve their dreams. We follow The Supernova Guild, with large member numbers there are many individual mages with various different magic. Many team up to conquer quests and defeat bad guys, but some go solo. Advanced-Class (a.k.a. Elites) are the most powerful mages and thus receive the most demanding quests from the jobs board.

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